National Small Board 2000: Results

There were 28 players, including nine aged 14 or younger, at the Small
Board Championships in Cambridge. The tournament was held
as part of a Chess and Go event with almost 120 competitors in total.

Dan players were in a minority. More than a third of the players were 20-kyu plus, and the median grade was 8-kyu.

The tournament was played in a mixed format. The higher ranked players
started off in an even game tournament for the championship; once they
were eliminated by losing two games they joined the other players in the
handicap section.

The hot favourite to win was Seong June Kim. However, he lost to the title holder Mike Charles in the second round, so another defeat would have eliminated him from the championship.

By the start of round 5, there were four players left in the championship, each with one loss. So we effectively had two semi-finals - Seong June Kim against Matthew Reid and Mike Charles against Natasha Regan. Seong June and Mike won so they had to play again in round 6. This time Seong June made no mistake and won to clinch the championship.

No

Name

Club

Age

Grade

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Wins

26

Seong June Kim

Cambridge

6-dan

1+

3-

2+

27+

24+

3+

19+

5+

23+

8

1

John Rickard

Cambridge

4-dan

26-

27-

4+

7+

2-

8-

24+

6+

9+

5

27

Alex Selby

Cambridge

3-dan

4+

1+

3-

26-

11-

7+

6-

24+

2-

4

2

Simon Goss

Berks

2-dan

3-

5+

26-

8+

1+

6+

14-

4-

27+

5

3

Mike Charles

St Albans

2-dan

2+

26+

27+

24-

5+

26-

11+

19-

14+

6

4

Alan Thornton

St Albans

2-dan

27-

24-

1-

25-

8+

9-

7-

2+

10-

2

5

Natasha Regan

Epsom Downs

1-kyu

7+

2-

24+

6+

3-

12+

10+

26-

16-

5

6

Phil Beck

Cambridge

1-kyu

24-

25+

7+

5-

10+

2-

27+

1-

8+

5

7

Matthew Woodcraft

Cambridge

1-kyu

5-

8+

6-

1-

17+

27-

4+

13+

25+

5

24

Matthew Reid

Cambridge

2-kyu

6+

4+

5-

3+

26-

11-

1-

27-

15-

3

8

Matthew Selby

Epsom Downs

4-kyu

25+

7-

19-

2-

4-

1+

12+

9-

6-

3

19

Michael Lowe

Norwich

6-kyu

10-

9+

8+

11+

14+

16+

26-

3+

28+

7

25

Joe Walker

Cambridge

6-kyu

8-

6-

9-

4+

15-

20+

17-

10+

7-

3

9

Gustav Rober

St Albans

8-kyu

11-

19-

25+

10-

22-

4+

18+

8+

1-

4

10

William Brooks

Cambridge

11

8-kyu

19+

11-

13-

9+

6-

15+

5-

25-

4+

4

11

Shawn Hearn

Berks

14

9-kyu

9+

10+

14-

19-

23+

24+

3-

12+

22+

6

12

Nicola Hurden

Berks

11-kyu

13-

23-

18+

20+

21+

5-

8-

11-

17+

4

13

Garry White

Berks

12

13-kyu

12+

14-

10+

23-

28-

22-

20+

7-

18+

4

14

Mogens Jakobsen

Epsom Downs

16-kyu

23+

13+

11+

16+

19-

28-

2+

22-

3-

5

23

Sheila Parker

Cambridge

18-kyu

14-

12+

17+

13+

16-

21+

28+

18+

26-

6

16

James Heppell

Norwich

12

20-kyu

16+

20+

21+

14-

23+

19-

22-

28+

5+

6

15

Lene Jakobsen

Epsom Downs

25-kyu

15-

17-

22-

18+

25+

10-

21+

20+

24+

5

17

Luise Wolf

London

8

28-kyu

20-

15+

23-

28-

7-

18-

25+

21+

12-

3

21

Ben Hill-Tout

Cambridge

13

30-kyu

18+

28+

16-

22+

12-

23-

15-

17-

20-

3

28

Lasse Jakobsen

Epsom Downs

10

30-kyu

22+

21-

20+

17+

13+

14+

23+

16-

19-

6

18

Annie Hall

Berks

32-kyu

21-

22-

12-

15-

20+

17+

9-

23-

13-

2

20

Oscar John

Cambridge

9

35-kyu

17+

16-

28-

7-

18-

25-

13-

15-

21+

2

22

Ben Parker

Cambridge

7

35-kyu

28-

18+

15+

21-

9+

13+

16+

14+

11-

6

Some games were played using handicaps, which are not specified here.

The prizewinners were:

Champion - Seong June Kim (7d, Cambridge) - 8/9

Runner-up - Mike Charles (2d, St Albans) - 6/9

Under-15 - Shawn Hearn (9k, Berkshire Youth) - 6/9

Under-13 - James Heppell (20k, Norwich) - 6/9

Under-11 - Lasse Jakobsen (30k, Epsom) - 6/9

Under-9 - Ben Parker (35k, Cambridge) - 6/9

7 Wins - Michael Lowe (6k, Norwich) - 7/9

6 Wins - Sheila Parker (18k, Cambridge) - 6/9

And everyone won at least two games. Which was nice.

Thanks are due to Ben Morris who helped with the draw, to Phil Beck who
got us some good coverage in the local press, and especially to Lindsay
House and Sophie Smiley who ran an excellent food and drink stall
throughout the day.